Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.

Saturday, 27 October 2012

The Arab spring had for goal to do away with the regimes that were not strong enough and could not resist eventual upheavals expected from the people . The Egyptian Regime of Mubarak could not have survived- for example the protests- that would have followed the nomination of his son . The regimes of Ben ‘Ali, Kaddhafi , and Saleh were equally weak , they...

could not have survived people’s riots cause by dissatisfaction on all fronts . Therefore , as a preventive measure, and in order to avoid a successful revolution in Arab countries like the one witnessed in Iran , the US administration manipulated the people of these countries- that were candidates for a real change- to do away with their rulers at they own expenses and bring instead the prescribed rulers wanted by the west. In doing this the US administration sounded like the Israeli authorities who ask the Palestinians of Jerusalem to destroy their own houses at their own expenses. There is no wonder why -in these manipulated uprisings of Arab countries - the help of Gulf Royalties was sought whether that of Qatar or Saudia in order to subdue Egypt ,Libya Syria and Yemen . This preventive measure took care of most Arab leaders that were shaky and consecrated the powers of the Sheikhs and kings and princes of the Arab world.

River toSeaUprooted PalestinianThe views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

[Al
Hayat] "... However, this optimism faded
away and was replaced by tension and the exchange of missiles across the border
with Syria. This optimism was also affected by the positions of the Syrian
opposition, which is splintered both politically and militarily.The image
that all Turkish quarters had envisioned was that if a greater amount of Syrian
opponents joined the Syrian National Council (SNC), which was supposed to
overhaul its structure to attract more members, and if the opposition's armed
military on the ground were unified, then the stage would be set for the post-US
elections period, which would witness a crucial move on the part of
Washington.

However, the Turkish efforts
in this regard were a complete fiasco. In fact, Ankara found itself facing a
new — and perhaps more difficult — test in light of the Eid al-Adha truce
project launched by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

This project was perceived by
many Turkish parties as a prelude to correct the track of the Turkish policy,
after Turkey had lost hope in the Syrian opposition. Still, Turkey is clinging
to the hope of overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but it may have begun
to reconsider its position and settle for a smaller piece of the new ruling pie
in Syria.

In fact, the Istanbul visit by CIA Director David Petraeus in early
September revived the old Turkish optimism........For a while, it seemed that
the main opposition parties responded to the Turkish move to unite their ranks
in front of the American observer, but it was not long before this picture faded
away, either due to Syrian tactics on the ground,
which worked on dragging Turkey into the conflict by bombing its
territory, or due to the Aleppo bombings, whose responsibility was
claimed by al-Qaeda and which came as a fatal response to Turkey's efforts to
unify the military command of the opposition.

At first, articles were leaked to Western newspapers.
They said the supply of arms to the FSA and armed groups has been stopped as a
punishment for their failure to unite.

These articles were followed by
accusations against specific Arab countries of financing jihadist and religious
groups that didn’t fall under the auspices of the FSA in Syria. Then, there were
official US and international statements that formally voiced their concern over
the activity of "extremist" groups that are operating on the ground without
allowing anyone to have any influence on their decisions or objectives.

It
seemed that criticizing the performance of the opposition's armed militias was
tantamount, even if indirectly, to criticizing Ankara. Turkey bet on the
scenario of a military settlement, despite the fact that it was the one refusing
to provide the opposition with anti-tank weapons and other advanced
anti-aircraft out of fear that these could fall into the hands of terrorist
groups that might later use them against the interests of Turkey.This is
because Turkey is the most affected by the terrorists that are joining the
confrontation, be they from al-Qaeda or from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK).

Thus, Ankara faced difficulties in achieving its goal of directly
overthrowing the Syrian regime militarily, and it seemed that its choice has
cornered it and put it at the mercy of the actions of the Syrian political and
armed opposition.

Meanwhile, it seemed like Damascus had more options to
respond to this Turkish rationale.

Then, Turkey was shocked by the Syrian
political opposition, which it had previously embraced, when the Syrian National
Movement revealed documents that were reportedly leaked from the Syrian
intelligence.

Ankara believed that the disclosure of these documents was an
attempt by the Syrian opposition to draw the Turkish army into a war against
Syria or to embarrass the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) government
in public. This irritated the Turkish government and pushed it to adopt a
sarcastic position toward these documents and to question their
authenticity.

This incident, as well as the repeated attempts by the Syrian
National Council to restructure itself, probably prompted Ankara to lose
confidence in the Syrian opposition or at least to reconsider its calculations
regarding the future of Syria.

Based on that, some Turkish observers believe
that Turkey will go back on its previous positions regarding a military
settlement on the ground.They also say that Turkey has begun to accept
middle solutions that allow a transitional government to emerge that include
representatives of the regime as well as Chinese and Iranian interests, which
would be similar to the “blocking third” government in Lebanon....

Ankara —
which previously announced its support for the Geneva statement and its
reservations about imposing this statement on the Syrian opposition, and
reaffirmed the need that the Syrian people choose the most appropriate solution
to their crisis — is currently testing the Syrian opposition through the truce
proposal to halt fighting during the Eid al-Adha holiday.

It is true that
Ankara seemed to support this proposal and to use it as the foundation for
discussion with Tehran — in the meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Azerbaijan — and that
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutolgu formally called all parties in Syria to cease
fire during the Eid holiday.However, Turkey remains in an unenviable
position, whatever the results of this call for a truce proposal....... if the
armed opposition rejects this proposal or is driven to fight back in response to
the regime, Turkish efforts will be in vain and it will become clear to Turkish politicians that they cannot rely on the
Syrian opposition. ... This test
and its outcomes will represent an important experience for Turkey, which is
preparing to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in an official visit in early
December. The visit is a true chance to harmonize their views regarding Syria,
especially because it will follow the announcement of the winner in the US
presidential elections..."

Syria militants abducted on Saturday Lebanese Journalist Fidaa Itani, handing
him over to the abductor of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims who were kidnapped last May
in Aleppo.

“The coordination of Azaz Revolutionists announced the detention of
journalist Fidaa Itani because his work is incompatible with the path of the
Syrian revolution and rebels,” read a post by militants’ Facebook page.

Itani, who works at al-Akhbar Lebanese daily and LBCI television, was placed
under house arrest for a short time and will be released” after an investigation
into him comes to an end, the post added.

When LBC contacted the abductor of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, Abu
Ibrahim, the latter said Itani was accompanying a group of rebels in Aleppo,
adding that the fighters became “suspicious” when the journalist started
videoing “large amounts of operations.”

Afterwards, the militants moved Itani to Aleppo’s Aazaz where they handed him
over to Abu Ibrahim, who told LBC that the journalist will stay in the area “for
a while.”
Abu Ibrahim has been well known as the head of the group that had abducted
the 11 Lebanese pilgrims as they were returning to Lebanon from Iran.

... but then again, Schenker/WINEP/ AIPAC have said the
same since they started naming Hurricanes!

"... Changing
political dynamics in Beirut -- largely the result of events in Syria -- also
pose a challenge for Hezbollah. Today, not only does the militia face the
prospect of losing Assad, it also stands to lose the next elections and control
of the Government. For while Hezbollah itself continues to command broad support
among Shiites, the organization's Christian coalition partner, the Free
Patriotic Movement led by Michel Aoun, appears to be losing popularity. At the
same time, Lebanon's small but politically powerful Druze community headed by
Walid Jumblatt is poised to bolt from the Hezbollah-led bloc and realign with
the remnants of the pro-West, so-called March 14 coalition, enabling it to form
a Government.To
be sure, this combination of developments will not lead to the unraveling of the
militia anytime soon. (and yet Schenker says) Even if Hezbollah is unable to rearm, with an estimated
100,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal, the organization could potentially
conduct several more wars with Israel and has the wherewithal to indefinitely
withstand all domestic adversaries...."

Just as we were learning about ‘anti’ Zionist Mondoweiss’ decision to reviseits comment policy to exclude discussion of the true nature of the Jewish State, the openly pro Zionist Haaretz paper published a news item about the Israeli poet, singer songwriter Zeev Tene.

Tene’s new song is called ‘Jew-Ish’ and as you may guess, is actually very critical of the Jew, Jewishness, The Jewish State and Jewish Identity in general. On the pages of Haaretz, an Israeli paper, Tene tells the truth that Mondoweiss and other AZZ (Anti Zionists Zionists) are determined to suppress.

Is it a coincidence that our leading ‘pro’-Palestinian Jews are so determined to stifle any critical discourse to do with the Jewish State and Jewish identity?

Not at all. Philip Weiss, the founder of the ‘progressive’ Jewish website admitted to me in an interview that Jewish-self interests are at the centre of his activism.

“I believe all people act out of self-interest. And Jews who define themselves at some level as Jews -- like myself for instance -- are concerned with a Jewish self-interest. Which in my case is: an end to Zionism,” said Weiss.

Unlike Philip Weiss, Zeev Tene, is a proud self-hater. He calls a spade a spade, he says what he means and he means what he says.

I read no more French press; it assails my
intelligence and my sensibility to style and finesse. The decline of the thought
has accompanied in France the decline of the country. Yet some friends have told
me to read an interesting article and its comments. It was published last Monday
(22/10) in Le Monde - the newspaper which has also become the shadow of
what it used to be. The ill-written manifesto is a pamphlet in favour of more
war against Syria, a former French mandate, and perhaps the rest of the world if
the rest of the world doesn’t obey the orders and the
11th commandment of the warmongers.

We are used to think in France
and in Europe that the political and social mess in Libya in a good thing, and
that the political chaos in Egypt or in Syria, waiting for the atomic
destruction of Iran, is a good thing too.

Thirty million unemployed people in
Europe are a good thing too, and one hundred millions poor and flaming suburbs
are still a good thing. What won’t we do to promote our democratic ideals! What
won’t we have to do to protect European democracy, the little defenceless Israel
and the little unsafe America!

The manifesto has been signed by Bernard
Kouchner, former puppet commander of Kosovo, a bunch of “fast-thinkers” and
impostors auto-proclaimed philosophers (philosophy, how many crimes do we commit
in your name!) and of course by infamous France’s official intellectual, the man
with 1000 dollars’ shirts, insulter of a Russian minister, and eternal despiser
of French culture (labelled racist, anti-Semite, bigot and so on), Bernard-Henry
Levy.

It proclaims that Mr Assad’s regime has opened its jails and so
manipulates the Mujahedin and mobsters, and that in fact Mr Assad kills twice
the resistant people of Syria: first because he is a tyrant backed by Russia and
China, second because he is a manipulator of the salafist mob! That is why the
world needs a new crusade: for Mr Assad has threatened ethnic minorities in his
country since a year and a half ago! Of course one will not explain thanks to
whom these communities have so long coexisted in peace before, and why
mob-controlled Arab Spring awoke anybody’s hatred…

My readers have already understood why I don’t
read French press.

Since he is the richest writer in the world and
has framed a network of docile servants and valets in Paris, Bernard-Henry Levy
can write and publish and film whatever monstrosity, even nobody buys it: as we
say in French, le ridicule ne tue pas, ridiculous doesn’t kill. Ten years ago,
our untalented warmonger had the nerve to promote a war against Russia in order
to help Chechnya. He came everywhere to praise his dement war (I remember him on
TVE, speaking in Spanish like… a Spanish cow).

Of course later his fast-think majesty and his
Faustian court applauded Bush’s insane wars, as they always insulted any
Palestinian movement, as they now pretend that Libya (Levy inspired directly
French intervention there) is a free and happy country! Who could challenge such
arguments and such people? Mr Lavrov didn’t comment insults and he was right.
France has dishonoured herself, Voltaire, Tocqueville or even Sartre, listening
to such lunatic and pedantic amusers. Yet it is of no use to lament anymore.

But I was invited by my Russian friends to read
the comments, comments that can only be written by Le Monde’s unlucky (or
distracted) subscribers. And… what a shock! And what a surprise! Almost all
comments protest the proposal of war, rather violently. There is a smell of
rebellion, a smell of scandal; there is a smell of profanation! I turned
perplexed for a few minutes: really, people in our ruined and depressed France
don’t want to send troops in Syria? Really, they say they don’t want to assist
mobsters in their persecution and extermination of Orthodox Christians and
Muslim minorities? Really, people in France would ask instead for more rights
for the Palestinians, despite the cowardice of their government? Really, people
in France understand the meaning of our Europe and post-mortem democracy?
Post-mortem Democracy which humiliates in Europe the right of the nations, which
destroys their identity and their culture, which impoverishes their soul and
their patrimony and know claims for a one thousand years of war everywhere? Even
the readers of Le Monde understand that? But where are we?

Of course we have some useful idiots, some damned
humanitarian beautiful souls who ask for an intervention before it is too late,
IE before we have to go to war with Russia and China! As a great screenwriter
said once, “a jerk is ready for anything; you will recognize him at this
trait.”

But let us not exaggerate. The French readers of
Le Monde are not that happy with the mad agenda of our warmongers and petty
philosophers. And that is a good beginning, even for France and the Middle
East.

Nicolas Bonnal

River toSeaUprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

[Quadrant,
via SST]
"... Unless defections
from the 600,000-strong, predominantly Sunni, Syrian army reach significant
proportions—which is unlikely—the rebels seem to be pinning their hopes of
toppling the regime on enticing foreign powers to enter the conflict on the
ground and in the air. In other words, replaying the Libyan scenario. But—as
many are starting to realise—Syria is not Libya; nor is it Iraq. Assad is not friendless as was Gaddafi. No one
claims that the Assad regime as it stands is a democracy, but it was and is
moving towards one. On the other hand, the much publicised efforts its opponents
inside and outside Syria are making to demonise Assad and his government have to
be seen for what they are: exaggerated and often spurious claims aimed at
drawing ill-informed foreign powers into a conflict that will probably draw the
whole region into a wider and bloodier one. This is no time for ad hoc solutions, or for settling
old scores..."

The Lebanese people witnessed late Thursday a heated dispute between
former Premier Saad al-Hariri and the leader of Progressive Socialist Party MP
Walid Jumblat.
The dispute started when Jumblat revealed that Hariri had telephoned him and
asked him to withdraw his ministers from the government.

“Hariri telephoned me and asked me to resign and I told him that I won't
resign. He said the Sunnis are being killed and I told him that Wissam al-Hasan
is the martyr of Lebanon and that I won't subject the country to vacuum. I also
said other things and he was dismayed by my remarks,” Jumblat said in an
interview on LBCI television.

Hariri hit back at Jumbalt, accusing the Druze leader of being a
“liar”.

“Walid Jumblat is quoting me as saying that Wissam al-Hasan is the
martyr of the Sunni sect. This is untrue and his ally (PM Najib) Miqati is the
one who said that. Wissam al-Hasan is the martyr of Lebanon,” said Hariri on the
social networking website Twitter during Jumblat’s interview.

Jumblat snapped back immediately during the interview. “Great. If Miqati said
that then he committed a mistake and let us consider Wissam al-Hasan the martyr
of the Lebanese state,” he said.
“May God forgive you Walid Bek. You understand stability as staying in the
Syrian-Iranian alliance, so congratulations,” Hariri then tweeted.

For his part, Jumblat said, “May God forgive him about all these
remarks.”

Addressing the PSP leader, Hariri said: “Your partners in government are the
ones who incited against him and accused him of treason like they accused Rafik
Hariri.”

“From now on, I will not remain silent in the face of anyone,”
Hariri vowed.

River toSeaUprooted PalestinianThe views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who represents the UN and
the Arab League, will soon leave Damascus after urging the Syrian government and
the rebels to observe a four-day truce over the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha,
which this year begins at dusk on October 25th.

Also called the Feast of the Sacrifice, Adha is a Muslim holiday which
commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his eldest
son Ismael, in obedience to a command from God.

On Sunday morning, I was in the lobby of my hotel, where it turns out UN
envoy Brahimi was also staying, chatting with one of the remaining three United
Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) members still in town. The affable
trio is all that remains of the roughly 300 UN Observers who spent months here
(40 stayed at this Dama Rose secured Hotel) trying to help with a separation
agreement that never really got off the ground.

There were also in the lobby perhaps a hundred reporters and cameramen who
were busy setting up for the news conference the Brahimi staff announced would
begin immediately following the envoys meeting with Syrian president Bashar
Assad.

No sooner had envoy Brahimi entered the hotel than he rushed to his room
calling over his shoulder that he would be right back. As we waited, a somewhat
unkempt, rather zany lady approached me. It turned out she was an Italian
reporter and she wasted no time stating her business. She said, “I know you’re
Franklin Lamb and you’re staying on the executive floor. What are you doing in
Damascus?” Nonplused, I replied, “Ma’m I’m here for a couple of appointments at
Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp and looking into the current political
situation.”

She gave me one of those scowling “give me a break buddy!!” looks and got
straight to her point, drawing hard on her cigarette and blowing the smoke
sideways. “Mr. Lamb, do I look naïve to you or what?” she demanded to know, a
bit aggressively. Before I had a chance to utter a stammering syllable, the lady
lit into me with:

“I happen to know from a reliable source that you, an
American, are staying on the executive floor and also on that floor are
Russians, Iranians, and Hezbollah. That’s no accident Mr. Lamb is it? What are
you all doing up there? What are your meetings about? Don’t worry I won’t quote
you but are you gentlemen going to arrange for an Eid ceasefire?”

Mercifully, as I closed my, by then, gaping mouth, envoy Brahimi appeared
from the elevator with his entourage to begin his news conference and I haven’t
seen the dear lady since, as she rushed front and center to shout a question and
then, following the short news conference, followed Mr. Brahimi out the front
door as he left for another appointment.

My point is that there are plenty of wild speculations and conspiracy
theories around this town as elsewhere, concerning Brahimi’s important
mission.

Envoy Brahimi didn’t reveal much about his mission but spoke about his hope
of reaching a ceasefire and mentioned his meetings with government officials
including Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, and President Bashar Assad.

In this
observer’s opinion, his body language revealed more than his words and reflected
his resignation that there will be no ceasefire as he told us,

"If we achieve
this ceasefire during the al-Adha holiday and maintain it, we can try and build
on it. If it does not happen, then we will keep trying and we hope we can find
another way to bring relief to the Syrian people."

UN envoy Brahimi seems to know that his noble mission will come to naught, at
least this time. However, aides say he will persevere until the US, Russia and
Iran agree on a diplomatic solution. He told reporters that some members of the
opposition whom he had met were open to the idea of a ceasefire only if the
Syrian government committed to it.

In a statement after the talks with Mr.
Brahimi, President Assad said,

"Syria is open to any sincere efforts for a
political solution to the Syrian crisis based on respect for Syria's sovereignty
and the rejection of outside intervention."

The reason, and perhaps it’s impolite, since Eid is still days away and UN
envoy Brahimi might still pull a rabbit out of the hat, for this observer to
reluctantly conclude that he has failed in his mission is substantial evidence
garnered from discussions here over the past several days. Would that I be
mistaken.

But, for this observer, being here makes all the difference, as I learned in
Libya, in getting a more accurate picture than offered from the main stream
media on the one hand and some of the more chronic conspiracy theorists on the
other. The key to learning what is happening seems quite simple: listening,
listening and listening to a cross section of the Syrian population and moving
around the neighborhoods as much as possible.

Perhaps the most often heard argument one hears in Damascus from the general
population, military types and even officials involves mistrust and doubts
across much of Syria that the opposition would honor a ceasefire.

One Syrian
army officer I met who is a liaison with the remaining three UN observers,
freely answered my questions including one focusing on what he would propose to
President Assad if he was presenting his professional and personal advice to the
Syrian leader.

He replied:

“For sure I would advise our President to oppose a ceasefire at this time.
For these main reasons: First it would dishonor the hundreds of our
brothers in the military who have sacrificed for their country with their lives.
To me it would be almost traitorous not to press on with the military momentum
that we now have achieved after hard months of conflict. We need to finish with
these foreign terrorists and our fellow citizens agree. We are currently in the
strongest military position because of those among our ranks who died defending
our country. Second, a ceasefire, even for 96 hours, will allow our enemies to
relax, re-group, bring in more supplies of heavy weapons funded by Persian Gulf
countries with the blessing of yours who are offering ‘non-lethal’ assistance
such as night vision devices and related equipment. As a military person I can
assure your government that there is no such thing as non-lethal aid when it’s
the type they are furnishing including ‘non-lethal communication’ equipment.
Having state of the art communications equipment is more important than rifles
in some instances.

"Why should we give them these gifts? Do you think al Qaeda and these North
African and Persian Gulf jihadists will observe the Eid al Adha holiday? Do you
think they will pass Eid praying and sacrificing lambs and camels and
distributing the meat to poor people as a gift? Or, by celebrating the end of
the Haij Pilgrimage and asking God for forgiveness? No my dear, I assure you
they will not. They will use a ceasefire to rebuild their ranks to prolong the
chaos and terror. Our president is very wise and he knows this as well.”

He continued:

“We will defeat this western project to destroy the
[anti-Israeli] regional Resistance but we won’t do it by stopping our momentum.
We are making advances on the ground that you don’t hear about from media
outlets like al Jazeera and al-Arabiya but it’s true. We can take you to have a
look if you like. Of course, you can find some of our military leadership who
favor a ceasefire, but the big majority agrees with the views I expressed and I
would give to our President. I think our leaders would face criticism from the
military and the public if they ignored our views. I expect there will be no Eid
ceasefire unless the international community can convince us that they would be
a ‘freeze in place’ which means no fighter on either side could move and take
advantage of the calm. Trust is the big problem for us. Who will guarantee a
ceasefire?”

“Let me give you an example,” he said going on to explain that there are now
eight Syrian army checkpoints between Damascus and Homs, so the road is usually
secure. He continues,

“The opposition has the habit of using terror and hit and
run tactics. They set up checkpoints for pro-western media outlets to film to
demonstrate that they are gaining support and then they quickly run away before
the Syrian army attacks them. It’s kind of a psychological war, but as a
military man I can tell you psychological tactics with one’s enemy are very
important. Their aims are to impress the western media and to weaken the
confidence of our people, soldiers and leaders. They will eventually fail but an
ill-considered ceasefire for Eid will not help.”

This officer's views appear to be widely held here.

Dr.Nabil Toumeh, a historian and CEO of Toumeh International in Damascus
supports the regime yet, like many, even officials is also critical and
emphasizes the need for reforms. Dr. Toumeh, hosted me in his office a few
nights ago and spoke frankly and he explained to this observer that a growing
number, probably around 65 percent of Syrians support the government and its
efforts to end the crisis, they also demand three major reforms, being the
economy, security agencies and the military.

I am not finding here the fear of criticizing the government that I found in
Libya under Gaddafi and which persists there, if to a lesser extent, today.

One Damascene, a 24-year old graduate who eschews politics, but who is still
angry at having his car hijacked by an armed gang three weeks ago, told me that,

“You can speak pretty freely, but its best not to act or get involved with
street groups. But, you know, increasingly people are losing their fear of the
security services. We just want the killing to stop. We want to get on with our
lives. Enshallah it will happen soon.”

What to make of a site that has successfully presented itself as an activist
website specialising in covering the middle east and the related politics and
offering a forum for comments and a free debate of these issues if that site
suddenly announces that

“we’re going to sharply circumscribe commenters’ freedom to address these
issues as a special or unique Jewish problem, or to post arguments that any form
of collective Jewish community-building is negative.”?

That site is MondoWeiss. Having built a
following for itself as a site that published opinions critical of “the State
for Jews” and its supporters, Mondoweiss is either telling its readers it had
just been pretending all along, or that it has decided that the State for Jews
is not “a special or unique Jewish problem,” just as the relentless witch hunt
to identify “anti-semites” among pro-Palestinian activists is not.Our editorial policy at deLiberation has always been and will continue to be
one that encourages free debate. This is not an empty slogan, as our readers
know. “Negative opinions” about any state, not “even” Israel, but especially
Israel, the Jewish lobby and the hijacking of the pro-Palestinian movement by
so-called anti-zionist Jews are not censored here.A free debate on these
issues is deemed essential, and it is incompatible with taboo topics and Nomina
Odiosa lists.We have only rarely had to remove comments, not because they
were “negative” with respect to a particular political power group or “ethnic
sensitivities” but because they were ad hominem attacks directed at other
debaters that stifled debate.We are left to wonder if Mondoweiss OVERTLY
joining the censorship club is MSM’s gain and alternative media’s loss or
perhaps only Mondoweiss’ coming out announcement.Here
is the complete text of the Mndoweiss announcement of the new censorship policy.In case you missed it:

[WaPo]
"... Hostilities have been simmering for weeks, but erupted into barrages from
Gaza immediately after the Qatari ruler left the territory Tuesday. Militants
from the ruling Hamas movement joined the fray, undercutting the emir’s appeal
to avoid confrontation with Israel........

The Qatari emir, Sheik Hamad bin
Khalifa Al Thani, had urged the Iranian-backed Hamas to do everything possible
to avoid violence with Israel.But the emir’s visit and promise of $400
million in aid bolstered Hamas’ flagging popularity and might have encouraged it to join the latest round of
hostilities, which had previously involved smaller militant
groups.

“These holy missions come in response to the repeated, continuous
crimes of the enemy against our people, which killed four and injured 10 in the
past 48 hours,” the military wing of Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees
said in a statement...."

"... Yet Qatar is
not nefariously trying to replace the Shia Crescent with a Brotherhood Banana,
curving from Syria through Gaza, Egypt, and on to Libya and Tunisia. Doha is
much more pragmatic and less Machiavellian than
that..."